Hi Rodney!
First, I have not been a big fan of WotC Dungeon/Dragon. When it came time to renew my subscription I let it lapse largely because of the quality of the adventures.
Second, I have not read this whole thread; only the first page or so. I don’t know if what I am going to say here is repetition or new information.
Third, I am going to use Silver’s Call, Dungeon 174 by Stephen Radney-MacFarland as an example. It is good example, I think, because it does a little right and a lot wrong. It is also short enough that I can go through it piece-by-piece and show you where the good and bad parts are.
The adventure starts on page 62 (which is actually page 9) in the version I had downloaded. The artwork is pretty evocative; a balding man and a spiky-haired woman with electricity dancing between them. The DM’s hook, however, is fairly mundane -- “The wizard Casaubon hires a group of adventures (I believe this should be adventurers) to help him achieve his destiny. The characters must confront mercenaries, warlocks and an ancient evil as they unseal the final barrier imprisoning this powerful treasure.” -- there is nothing in those two sentences that make me say “Cool!”
Page 10 is the best page in the adventure. The first four paragraphs provide a nice synopsis of the adventure (although the actual Adventure Synopsis is on page 11). Again, “adventures” is used in place of “adventurers” and the hypertext [link] and [/link] appear around “Chaos Scar”. While individually these are really rather minor concerns, taken together I am starting to get a feeling that this piece was rushed out the door. (I make no claims about my own ability with grammar being any better – I do expect more from people who do this professionally though.)
The rest of page 10 continues under the title “Background” -- this, to me, is the best part of the adventure. It is interesting, it hints at a larger world, and it gives me information that I can play around with later on in the campaign.
Page 11 starts by finishing up the background information -- again, nothing really bad here. The “Adventure Synopsis” is a pretty straight forward as well, although I am starting to wonder why there was a need to write a synopsis on page 10 and on Page 11? I did enjoy that the author gave some characterization to Casaubom -- I think it is important to give the DM some guidance as to how to play the NPC. I think more could have been done with the rival, Ediza. The hints at overcoming the mercenaries in ways other than combat was a nice touch.
The part about Dungeon Tiles I am going to set aside for the moment. I will discuss them more in the encounter sections of the adventure.
The treasure parcel system is something I am not a big fan of. I prefer that -- if there are magic items to be given out -- they should be relevant in the stat-blocks of the encounters. This is just a personal opinion and I am sure that there are many who will disagree.
“Getting Started” -- pretty basic read-aloud text here. Not much more than “I’m a wizard, I have money.” The Insight and (on page 12) Arcana checks add a nice amount of character to Casaubon. As does the detailed sidebar named Casaubon. I think I would have liked all of the information to play Casaubon to be in one location rather than spread throughout the adventure.
The section entitled “Digging Deeper” is very useful and very flavorful. My players tend to be of the more cautious type and prefer doing a lot of research before they go on adventures. Having some guidance there is a huge help to me.
“Approaching the Cave of Dark Whispers” Reading through this section I got the feeling that this was the third time I have read a synopsis of the adventure; then I realized this was the adventure. Sigh. It is pretty linear; encounter #1, then encounter #2, then encounter #3. I have no options but to encounter them in that order. I have no map to set up the area. No guidance if my characters want to scout around. No alternative ways to proceed with the adventure.
From here we move into the three sections of tactical encounters. The first being “Mercenaries at the Mouth” The actual encounter (assuming combat) is pretty good; there is a nice combination of artillery, brutes, skirmishers, and lurkers. The section on tactics is nice, as is the section on surrender. There is something missing though, earlier the author had mentioned bypassing this encounter “in other ways”. Well, there is no guidance as to what those other ways are. Perhaps a section detailing a skill check to sneak by the guards or, a section detailing a skill check to bribe the guards. Both seem to be completely obvious tactics a party might take.
A word about Dungeon Tiles. They are limited. Looking at the map on page 15 it presumes that the party will enter on the left side. That is where the path comes in and where the most open space for the PCs is. Unfortunately, when I laid that map out on the table my players immediately wanted to sneak around to the top of the map, and assault the mercenaries from that direction. This completely negates the tactics section on the previous page. The mercenaries know the importance of a well fortified position and yet they leave open a gigantic hole in the structure where they can all be assaulted easily by savvy PCs. It seems like a logical tactic for intelligent players to take -- sneak around to the place where you have some cover and the mercenaries don’t. The map should have extended up at least another ten squares to account for that tactic.
The second tactical encounter -- “The sealed Doorway” -- again has a good collection of monsters, and the tactics section works nicely. The PCs need to stop “X” from happening -- it feels very cinematic. The only thing missing is a good description of the chamber, how does it look and feel, give me descriptions!!!
A second word on Dungeon Tiles. Looking at the map on page 18 is tough. It is kind of this funny polygon and there is way too much white space on the page -- it feels incomplete. Even just surrounding the dungeon tiles with cave stone would help alleviate the “unfinished” look. (This is also a problem throughout the adventure. There is a lot of white space. Given my concerns about there not being enough descriptions, guidance, etc. it feels like the author/editor wasted space.)
The final encounter -- “Call Heeded” -- again has a nice collection of monsters. The transformation of Casaubon is a nice little switch at the end. Again, the map leaves something to be desired, as does the descriptions of the room.A little more characterization of Casaubon would be nice.
All in all, I thought the adventure started out pretty good but then fell very flat once the encounters started happening. I like flavor, I like characterization -- I want more of that. The encounters themselves are pretty nicely done mechanically. You got the steak, now give me the sizzle.
